Local and Regional Tax Administration in Transition Countries [antikvár]

Preface In Hungary, the Center for Public Affairs Studies at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences managed an international research sponsored by the Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative (affiliated with the Open Society Institute) in Budapest. Starting in November 1997, our researchers selected certain Central and Eastern European countries-namely Estonia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, and Ukraine-in to conduct in-depth research on issues of local public fináncé and management. Their research addressed the need to support the reform of local governments in transition countries by conducting a research project under the title of "Local and Régiónál Tax Administration in Transition Countries." The research focused on present operations within local and régiónál tax offices. It highlighted problems such as efficiency, customer orientation, corruption, the need to introduce modern financial and managerial principles and practices, etc. We analyzed the relationship between central tax and local tax policies, as well. This final volume of international and national reports is recommended primarily to the local and régiónál government financial departments, particularly the decentralized or deconcentrated tax offices. But we hope it will alsó prove useful to national tax policy-makers and tax administrations. In this project, participating countries enjoyed great autonomy and flexibility to accomplish the generally agreed objectives. Experts from the Public Management Center at the Katholieke University of Leuven, Belgium, from the Swedish National Tax Board, Stockholm, Sweden, and from the Institute of Public Fináncé, Zagreb, Croatia alsó provided academic and professional support for the research. The structure of the research team was based on earlier cooperation between the member institutions of the European Group of Public Administration, and of the Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe. In order to accomplish the generál tasks of markét reforms, the Central and Eastern European countries involved initiated comprehensive tax reforms and restructured their tax administrations very extensively. New relationships between the state, its deconcentrated organs (or régiónál agencies) and the municipalities have been established over the past decade. Significant efforts have been made on modernizing tax administrations, as well. However, while increasingly more information has become available about the tax systems, there has been little analysis of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the tax administrations. Researchers have afforded priority to the economic and social aspects of fiscal policy and tax reform. But less attention has been paid to the organization and management of tax administration. Töpics like new management approaches to tax administration, customer service in tax administration, management au-